Ignorance is bliss

On the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Quinnipiac University of Hamden Connecticut came out with an interesting poll wherein Americans supported the use of atomic weapons against Japan by a margin of nearly 4 to 1. That’s not the interesting part. The interesting part of the poll is that support for Harry Truman’s decision to drop the bomb decreases dramatically among poll respondents aged 18-34, while support increases as the ages of those polled increases. The good news is that close to 80% of Americans today support Mr. Truman’s decision. The bad news is that only 50% of those aged 18-34 lend their support.

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But then, why would we expect younger people to support use of the bomb, given the fact that none of them have ever experienced the horrors of war. During the three years and eight months America was engaged in World War II, military losses amounted to 416,000 deaths, while several million troops were injured. The numbers work out to nearly 100,000 American soldiers killed every month or the equivalent of one 9/11 every day! Prior to making that fateful decision President Truman sought advice from his military experts on the quickest way to end the war in the Pacific. They told him that an invasion of Japan (in lieu of dropping the bomb) would likely cost between 100,000 and 200,000 American casualties. Thus Truman opted for the terrible destruction wrought by that one bomb rather than risk losing that many more American soldiers The educational system has stopped teaching about the great sacrifices Americans made during WW II and focuses now instead on instilling self-esteem. Hence many of our younger citizens can’t imagine the privations and losses Americans suffered during the war and are unable to see the world through any but their own paradigm. The Quinnipiac poll is indicative of the vast sea change that is taking place within the American psyche. It gives cause to wonder whether the nation is willing to defend itself should a hostile power launch an attack. Would young Americans volunteer to defend America in the same numbers they did on December 8, 1941? Or would there be a movement toward rapprochement at any cost? One is given food for thought and not a little cause for concern to think of an emerging generation of Americans who can’t imagine an enemy so implacable that only the deadliest force could end hostilities. It’s a worldview that seems rooted in blissful ignorance.